Technical Minds, Human Hearts – Should Scientist – Managers Lead From The Heart?

Some years ago I conducted a webinar for job seekers in the life sciences..Freshly minted degrees in hand, they were ready to to take on the world. Of course I was grateful to have been asked to share my years of experience as a recruiter. More than a few of those years, I spent in the scientific recruiting world.

The webinar went great, as far as I can tell, as you know, webinars are mostly one sided affairs, and I was excited we had many participants in the Q & A session afterwards.

What I was told post event has always stuck with me – I was told, “Tom, you actually got a room full of scientists to speak up and ask questions”.. I was proud of that, but I also wondered, “do scientists normally not participate”?

I wondered to myself “if talking to me was a big effort, I wonder what their day to day work world is like,  being so focused on data and problem solving”

Which brings me to the point of this months blog post..In recent years I’ve been doing a lot of work in leadership development, specifically, helping managers connect to their people, so their leadership efforts are met with more than silence. 

As I do this work, I think of industries I used to recruit for and that story of my webinar came back to mind.

Is the connecting with their people thing difficult for scientists in general, and specifically scientist managers?  Can they lead with their hearts and connect with their people? Is it a good idea to do so? Are they still true to their ethos if they become more people – centric?

Here are a few points I’ll make, in an effort to show you really don’t have a choice BUT to connect with your people:

1) People care about what they create. If you implement ideas and policies without buy in, you’ll get partial compliance if at all, and some will actively try to bury the initiative

2) People don’t quit jobs, they quit bad managers. Most people love what they do, or at least enjoy parts of the job. Top down autocratic edicts are demoralizing, and get folks updating their resumes.

3) People don’t always quit bad managers, but they do quit traumatic situations that bad managers cause, through not listening, and implementing top down edicts without gaining buy in.

Perhaps your organization doesn’t suffer from these issues, and everyone is connected and happy. That’s great.

However, if you are a manager struggling with any of this, here are some steps you can take and viewpoints to consider:

1) Change your mind -  recognize that the smartest people in the room, is the room itself

2) It doesn’t diminish your authority, to let other voices speak and have input

3) Meaningful change cannot happen, until the right questions are asked.

Think about that – Scientific discovery is predicated on asking questions and rigorous inquiry. Why can’t the same thought process be applied to and through a very human connection between managers and their staff? When heart centered inquiry leads the way, you get better results:

1) People feel safe enough to express their views, questions and opinions

2) When you are in a safe relaxed state, the quality and quantity of ideas goes up

3) You’ll have happier employees

I don’t know of a single organization that couldn’t benefit from more high quality ideas, brought up by a staff that is positive, engaged and “all in”

Do you?

Bio: Thomas Patrick Chuna, CHM, is a seasoned talent acquisition and organizational development specialist with nearly 30 years of recruiting experience across diverse verticals, including life sciences, bioinformatics, biopharma, and biotech. As Chief People Officer, he has built comprehensive hiring processes for technical and leadership roles while facilitating programs that enhance productivity, communication, and leadership effectiveness.

A certified Hiring Manager, DiSC consultant, Outplacement Consultant, and Certified Xchange Guide Facilitator, Tom specializes in helping organizations navigate change while building and developing leadership teams. He is an experienced webinar conductor and blogger on career and organizational transformation topics.